Saw this perfect Bronco today:
Looks like a daily driver.
Nice looking. Needs some scratches and some mud though.
This morning, a Jeep XJ, 2nd gen Cherokee
The Jeep XJ, more commonly known as the Jeep Cherokee (2nd generation), evolved from the 1974 1st generation (SJ, beige; web pic) to an all-new, smaller platform. The XJ was manufactured from 1984 to 2001, a long run of 18 years — not very common in the automotive world. It was replaced by the Jeep Liberty in April 2001 for the 2002 model year (KJ, silver; web pic).
This XJ example is clean and straight and mostly all there. From the very faded Arizona plates I’m guessing it’s been parked in the very hot Arizona sun for a long, long time. Too bad it has the automatic transmission.
My ex in-laws had an XJ and it was beautiful. And with the 5-speed manual transmission it was enjoyable to drive.
Of course one of Jeep’s other products exceeded that record – the SJ Wagoneer was manufactured from 1964 to 1993, a run of almost 30 years.
Fascinating.
I had the years off slightly (I was going from memory). The SJ Wagoneer was actually manufactured from 1963-1991. But that’s still 28 years.
I’m guessing the reason for the long run was just that there wasn’t a lot of competition in the luxury SUV space at that time. Its only real competitor was maybe the Range Rover, and those weren’t even imported to the US until some time in the 1980s.
My wife and and I purchased one of those as our first joint vehicle purchase. Ours was a 1990 (or 1991?) purchased in early 2001. It had the 4.0 I6 with an auto transmission, 4wd of course. That thing could not get stuck. It was our first “family” car and man, do I miss it. My only gripe was the auto teans, i wish it would’ve had the manual. I think our own @Johnny_L.A still owns one. I miss ours terribly.
Those things were a dime a dozen when we bought ours. The roads were filled with them. Now they’re a rare sight indeed. I read somewhere that the “cash for clunkers” program swallowed a lot of them.
I use it for local driving. I drove it today. People keep asking me if it’s for sale.
My original post had the line "and Johnny, if you ever want to sell it and are lookin for a buyer, well… ::raises hand::
But you’re like 9 hours away from me. So I thought better of it.
My county government (where I work) used to have all XJ’s as county vehicles.
On my first day to work, my new boss said “Can you drive a stick? [of course I can]. Take a vehicle and drive around to familiarize yourself with the county”.
Coolest boss ever.
Very cool.
Reminds me of the time when in the Marines we were getting ready to deploy to northern Norway in wintertime, so I and some others who drove were sent off to Fort McCoy WI for Arctic Survival Training that included winter driving. In snow-covered fields and tank trails through the woods they turned us loose with Hummvees and 5-ton trucks, and our directive was to ‘go and explore the limits of the vehicles’.
One of the most fun times I ever had in my 14 years in.
That does sound fun. Anybody get stuck? Or is that a dumb question…
Speaking of cars with really long production runs…
I looks to be completely stock. I’m not enough of an expert to identify the year, but I’m guessing circa 1970ish.
Check the license plate (slug bug 68).
Nobody got stuck that day. In a 5-ton truck, which is 6x6 drive, I disconnected drive to the front axle and then executed a sliding 180 in a wide snow field. It was a little scary because I became acutely aware of how up high I was in that cab, sliding sideways! It all turned out good.
Out and about in Eugene today I saw:
A Cybertruck heading south on I5. Only the third time I’ve seen one in the wild. They definitely do not grow on you.
A Rivian R1T pickup.
The new Jeep Wagoneer.
A Nissan 400Z.
Not a particularly eventful excursion. It was dry and sunny but cold, at least for western Oregon, so maybe that kept people from driving their cool cars.
To the poster above-- I’ll add for nothing… I’ve never seen a Lancia I didn’t like
The Flaminia, Flavia, the Fulvia Zagato V4
I didn’t even notice it wasn’t just a randomly assigned plate until you pointed it out!
Hahahah. I love those duceanahalfs.
At a friends wedding, one guy showed up in a 6x6. The whole party jumped in back and we drove around town, horn blaring. This is a small ski town.
I was a little concerned about the ruckus we where making. The bride, the director of 911, said “If we get pulled over, that officer will be on every barking dog patrol for the rest of his life”
